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The Boy in White
Having escaped from the Celestial Prison and released Xauld, the party returns to Riverdrown. A still-unconscious Nimrya is taken to her quarters and the party is paid for their services. Before retiring to their rooms, however, they use the last hours of the day to unwind and take some time for themselves. Hachiman and Tingle, both tipsy from a round of drinks in the Seventh Ruby, square off against two drunks in a brawl and then each other, with Hachiman coming away as the ultimate victor. Taigus observes this fight, but also spots Kait, a member of Exal's crew, hiding in the crowd. He approaches her discreetly, gun pointed at her back, and demands her to leave the city at once. She tells him that the rest of Exal's gang is camped in the hills outside the city and that she was posted here to keep an eye on the authorities. Taigus reassures her that the guards will not be looking for Exal and his associates, after which she agrees to leave. Lau wanders the Mutant District, watching over Kojo's house and stumbling across a strange boy dressed in all white. Lau chases this boy, but comes across a group of thugs harassing an elderly mutant instead. The rogue, feeling a sense of responsibility to step in, leaps onto one of the thugs, knocking him out and causing the rest the scatter into the night. The mutant kindly thanks Lau for intervening. Roach visits the Central Library again, this time seeking more information on the whereabouts of the elven archive mentioned in Dr. Morrow's notes. Finding a book on local geography, Roach realizes that the archive is in the nearby Talons, atop the mountain range's second highest peak. The next day, Roach finds himself overcome with eagerness. He implores the rest of the party to take a detour to the Talons and help him find the archive there. They all agree and Roach informs the merchant Karokk that he and his friends will no longer be travelling with him. Afterwards, Taigus visits Nimrya, still lying in her bed, and waits beside her until she awakens. She weakly asks him what happened last night, but all he tells her is that he brought her back to life, that her men could not be rescued, and that the city is now safe from infernal influence. She thanks him. In Nimrya's mirror, Taigus spots a boy dressed in all white staring back at him, noticing that the boy is not physically in the room with him. The boy drops a silver coin, then vanishes. Taigus picks it up. However, the mark of Oberon on his chest begins burning and slowly erasing itself from his skin, severing his spiritual connection to that god. He leaves the coin with Nimrya, telling her to "name him Silver", before abruptly leaving the barracks in a huff. In the Mercantile District, Lau encounters the boy in white again, who freezes time around them. The boy, unable to remember his own name or nature, tells Lau that he is curious about him and his friends and that he wishes to watch them. He states that he helped Taigus earlier by removing Oberon's mark from his chest, thus concealing him from the god's sight. Oberon was evidently angered by Taigus, though the gunslinger had been blissfully unaware of this. Inspired by another lost boy without a birth name, Lau settles on calling the child Firefly. The boy then disappears. The party rides to the Talons, steadily ascending its cold slopes. While crossing a stone bridge, they are confronted by a tribe of orcs, and after some negotiating, Roach is challenged by their chieftain to a duel. The tiefling boy holds his ground, but is handily defeated and thrown to the side, spurring the rest of the party to take action. Hachiman ruthlessly cleaves through several orcs, Taigus shoots and kills the chieftain, and Lau manages to revive Roach. Tingle and his dog, however, are thrown into a crevice during the chaos. The orcs eventually surrender. In the dark, Tingle finds a glowing inscription along the cave wall. He also finds the boy in white.